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Saturday October 11th 2008 |
a non-profit education organization | |
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Saturday October 11th 2008 |
a non-profit education organization | |
March 8
From Teoc, MS he grew up in the Mississippi hill country town of Avalon. The population was under 100, it is located north of Greenwood. He began playing guitar at age 10, and within a few years was performing at parties, doing ragtime music in those early days. As a farm hand, he lived in relative isolation, and it was only in 1916, when he went to work briefly for the railroad, that he got to broaden his horizons and his repertory beyond Avalon. In the early '20s, he teamed up with white fiddle player Willie Narmour, playing square dances. Hurt was spotted by Tommy Rockwell, a scout for Okeh records in 1928, and recorded that same year in Memphis and New York. The company was supposed to record Narmour, and signed Hurt to record after a quick audition. Of the eight songs that Hurt recorded in 1928, only two were ever released. But then came the Depression and many were out of work. Hurt went back to work herding cows for 35 years, until Tom Hoskins, remembering the name of one of the '28 songs went to Avalon, near Greenwood, and asked for him. Hurt's dexterity as a guitarist, coupled with his plain-spoken nature, took away from his following as a popular blues artist, at the time. His playing was too soft and articulate, and his voice too plain to be appreciate in a large setting, such as a dance; his music was best heard in small, intimate gatherings. His excellent guitar playing and his gentle, home-spun folk style, full of good humor and unlike that of any other Delta bluesman, brought him three years of stardom at the end of his life. Mississippi John Hurt left behind a legacy unique in the annals of the blues, and not just in terms of music. A humble, hard-working man who never sought fame or fortune from his music, and who conducted his life in an honest and honorable manner, he also avoided the troubles that afflicted the lives of many of his more tragic fellow musicians. He felt no bitterness over his late-in-life mass success, and as a result continued to please and win over new listeners with his recordings until virtually the last weeks of his life. He actually retired from the music business because of the legal entanglements of his new career. Nothing he ever recorded was less than inspired, and most of it was superb. No blues singer ever presented a gentler, genial image than Mississippi John Hurt. He was a beautiful human being, father, grandfather, church member, and gentleman who died peacefully. Reference: Ms John Hurt Foundation P.O. Box 347 North Carrollton, Ms 38947 Phone:662.237.9272 Mississippi John Hurt Foundation
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The African American Registry®, The African American Registry® Copyright 2005, 2006
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